


Coulson Family Secret

by Ralkana



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Coulson's grilled cheese, Domestic Fluff, Ficlet, M/M, Sappy, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-19
Updated: 2017-02-19
Packaged: 2018-09-25 13:13:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 736
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9822077
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ralkana/pseuds/Ralkana
Summary: The recipe is a secret, and Clint is determined to get it.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I've made a resolution to finish some of the WIPs cluttering up my notebooks and flash drives and hard drives, and I'm starting with this one. Hope you enjoy!
> 
> Thanks to orderlychaos for looking it over for me!

 

_Skye: I gotta say, Director, no doubt, the best grilled cheese I've ever had._

_Director Coulson: Secret ingredient. Don't ask. I will not disclose._

_\-- Episode 2x13: One of Us_

 

**~ ~ ~ ~ ~**

 

SHIELD agents were trained to resist interrogation. Extensively. No amount of pain, or threats, or drugs, or torture would pull from them the secrets they spent a career -- a lifetime -- learning.

So the first time Clint bit into one of Coulson's grilled cheese sandwiches and moaned with pleasure before begging for the recipe, having Coulson -- eyes sparkling, lip tilted in a gorgeous smirk -- tell him, "Family secret," well, Clint took it as a challenge. The path to crunchy golden bread on the outside and gooey melted deliciousness within _would_ be his.

Coulson always seemed to know just when Clint needed the comfort, and Clint lost track of how many of Coulson's grilled cheese sandwiches he ate over the years in safehouses, in Medical, in his quarters or Coulson's apartment. He also lost track of the tactics he'd used to acquire the secret recipe: bribes, recipe trade offers, sneak attacks, blindsiding a heavily medicated Coulson when he was laid up in medical.

Coulson came home once to find a woozy and bruised post-mission Clint in his kitchen, looking through the battered metal recipe box Coulson had inherited from his mother, and all he did was raise an eyebrow.

"Do you really think it's written down?" he asked wryly, but he carefully shooed Clint into the living room and the air was soon filled with the smell of toasting bread and melting cheese, so Clint figured he wasn't in that much trouble.

As the years passed, and Coulson became Phil, Clint tried even more devious methods. Tickling didn't work, though it did earn him a _spectacular_ if accidental shiner, and offering to trade sexual favors for the recipe didn't work either. Clint might have had more success by withholding sex, but he could never manage to keep his resolve with Phil always looking so gorgeous and determined.

At this point, Clint persisted more for the gleam in Phil's eyes at every new tactic than for the recipe itself, since Phil was more than happy to make him one whenever he asked, as long as he agreed to stay out of the kitchen while Phil was making it.

 

**~ ~ ~ ~ ~**

 

Their wedding was a quiet affair, and they vetoed a honeymoon vacation in favor of a week off at home. Home was where sex and sleep happened, Clint reasoned, and really, that sounded way more awesome than sunburn, sand in his shorts, and having to share Phil with other people.

One late morning, halfway through their honeymoon, Clint emerged from the bedroom and followed the smell of brewing coffee into the kitchen, where his husband -- his _husband!_ \-- was arranging things on the counter.

He turned as Clint wandered in, and Clint would _never_ get tired of the way Phil lit up whenever he caught sight of Clint. It filled him with a weird bubbly kind of happiness he hadn't really known existed.

"Hey," he said, and Phil grinned like it was the greatest thing he'd ever heard.

"Good, you're here. Since, we, uh, got up a little late -- "

"And whose fault was that?"

"You were naked and sleepy and gorgeous, and I have no regrets," Phil said airily. "Now. Grilled cheese for lunch?"

Clint's stomach, conditioned over years, growled in anticipation, and Phil laughed as he turned back toward the counter.

"Okay, there are actually _several_ secrets when it comes to the perfect Coulson grilled cheese. The first is in the choice and age of the bread, and the second is in the ratio of the cheeses," Phil said nonchalantly, and when Clint just blinked at him in shock, his smile softened. He reached out and grasped Clint's hand in his, thumb stroking gently over the simple band on Clint's ring finger.

"I told you, it's a family secret, and that makes it yours now, too," Phil said.

After a stunned moment, Clint laughed, watery and rough. "If I'd realized this was all it took to get it out of you, I'd have proposed years ago," he said.

"If I'd known that's all it would take to get you to propose, I'd have _mentioned_ it years ago," Phil grinned back. "Okay, ready? Listen carefully..."

It turned out that love wasn't exactly the secret ingredient, but it was definitely in there, too.

**END**


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